Kari Whitman is an actress-turned-designer who has helped stars like Jessica Alba and Emilio Estevez with their homes. Here she dishes out some advice and tells us why she loves bathrooms.
THE STAR SCOOP
Tell us a little about yourself and what you do.
KARI WHITMAN:
Basically, I’m originally from Colorado, and I moved to Los Angeles. I was going to be an actress, and I was an actress for a while, and basically hated it. I really hated it. It was not my scene at all. It was just too much waiting; it bored me. And I worked as an actress, and I completely supported myself as an actress but it just wasn’t for me. I would always redo my house, help my friends out with their houses. It just kind of ended up that people were constantly asking me to do their houses, and finally I just said forget it, I don’t want to do this anymore, I’m just going to be a designer.
THE STAR SCOOP:
Looking back into your childhood or your past, is this something you would have foreseen happening?
KARI WHITMAN:
It’s something that I could kind of foresee. I was like the girl, that when I was a kid, my parents and I would go on vacation and they’d come back to the hotel room and I had reorganized the entire hotel room, you know? I always kind of had this affinity for design and I’ve always been kind of an artist. You kind of go with your passions, you can create success in whatever you want to do.
THE STAR SCOOP:
How did the TV show come about, and have you seen a change in your life since?
KARI WHITMAN:
I had another show called “The Dude Room,” that I did which was just kind of a guys’ show. My episodes got fairly high ratings and so I decided that I wanted to create and executive produce my own show. I pitched it to some production companies and the first pitch was great. The show is just a really fun show. You’ve got design, you’ve got my life, which is a little bit crazy, but you’ve got also the celebrity world and they want and what they like and what they don’t like and what they are on a more intimate basis. And then you’ve got my dog rescue which is a big part of the show also. I don’t know if it has changed my life other than the fact that I get a lot of fan mail and a lot of people start going, I saw your show, you know? But I mean, my life is exactly the same. The show is really not scripted at all. I mean, it’s what it is. It’s all totally genuine.
THE STAR SCOOP:
Who would you say was your first big celebrity client that you were really excited about?
KARI WHITMAN:
Emilio Estevez was my first big celebrity client, but he had also been a personal friend that had hired me. He was such a great client, because he loved my style, and he was always like, You wanna help me, you wanna help me? So, I don’t know if he was my first celebrity client, but he was one of my favorites.
THE STAR SCOOP:
Who would you say is harder to design for, your friends or the celebrities, and do the celebrities become friends?
KARI WHITMAN:
Well, you know, Jessica Alba did my show and now I’m doing her house, and she’s now my friend and she’s now adopted a dog for me and we have a good time together. I think the only problem with working with celebrities is that the time frame is really hard because a lot of them are working a lot. Like I’m trying to finish up Virginia Madsen’s house, who also did an episode of my show. She’s done like four movies back to back and now she’s doing two more, and just trying to schedule time to make decisions is the hardest part of working with celebrities. I didn’t go out looking for celebrity clients, they just kind of found me, and I think the cool thing about them is they’re artists, and they have ideas and they have opinions and I actually think they’re easier to work with than someone who’s not as artistic because they don’t really know what they want. I like working with everybody; I’m pretty easy to work with. I’ve really never had an unhappy client.
THE STAR SCOOP:
How would you describe what you do when you design, what style you have and how you work that into what your clients want?
KARI WHITMAN:
Basically, I think this is why I do well in the business is that I really don’t have one style. I create the style for the individual that is my client. Their style might not be my style, but I pull it out of them and I make it fun and I make it funky and hip, if that’s what they want or I make it contemporary, or I make it Spanish-Mediterranean. I kind of just help pull it out of them. If they don’t have a style, then I’ll create a style for them, but most people have their own style. My personal style is eclectic, kind of funky tangible stuff. I think it’s just important for any designer to really listen to their client. You need to create it for them and not for you. It’s not about ego for me, it’s about whatever makes them happy, is what I’m going to do. I might not put it in my book all the time, but I want them to be happy. I mean, a happy client is the most important thing to me.
THE STAR SCOOP:
What is your favorite room to design?
KARI WHITMAN:
I love doing bathrooms. I love tearing out bathrooms and starting from scratch. I think they’re really, really fun and I love doing bedrooms. I love every room because I want every room to have a really cool vibe to it. I want people to walk into each room, and just be like, wow. I want people to really feel the energy of the room. But for some reason, bathrooms, I have so much fun.
THE STAR SCOOP:
A lot of the people that will read this will maybe not have the money to revamp their whole house. If people are looking for a change, and they want to change one room, where would you suggest they do that to make the biggest impact for their overall environment?
KARI WHITMAN:
I think because the biggest impact is going to be a place where most people are, which usually isn’t going to be the bedroom and the bathroom. I would say the entry to your house, the first impression, whether you walk into a hallway onto a dining room or a hallway onto a family room. [Or], if you entertain a lot, I always say to focus on the areas that you entertain a lot first, if you have a minimal budget and you say okay, I want to do one room at a time. So, focus on the areas you have people over a lot.
THE STAR SCOOP:
If you’re someone who gets really tired of a look pretty often, it’s going to be hard to keep changing it up. So what are some ways that you can keep a room in the house fresh and constantly change it without having to redo the whole room?
KARI WHITMAN:
I always say, I have my own kit called Wall Makeup, and I always say, changing the color of your walls or changing the color of your ceiling…walls are so easy, and with my kit you can create a color without having to prime, plus save money, save time, and save the environment. I really believe in changing colors of walls. You can go and get a nice big throw rug in a room [also].
THE STAR SCOOP:
What is house fashion-don’t? What is something people should never, ever do in their house?
KARI WHITMAN:
[Laughs] Something that someone should never, ever do in their house is something that they’re pushed into doing, that they’re reluctant to do in the first place, by a designer or by a friend. The second tip is, don’t try to match everything together. Create things that are really something you like. Don’t think that the wallpaper has to match the carpets. It’s just really important that you find the quality within yourself.
THE STAR SCOOP:
You’re involved in the dog rescue. Can you tell us more about that?
KARI WHITMAN:
The dog rescue is a really big part of my show because it’s a really big part of my life. The design and the celebrities and the craziness is fun, but I think it’s really important for people to give back and not just take, and I try to do something for other living creatures.
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